Great video! A good example of how a reward marker can speed learning from a session today with a one to one puppy training client: We were working on a positive interrupter, a noise that means turn around and look at me/wait for an instruction (that instruction could simply be look at me until I release you, sit, go to your bed, get a toy etc. It is a cue to use while supervising your puppy to get their attention without adding stress or startling them, to manage their behaviour and stop them learning bad habits). So human Dad was making a kissy noise (the positive interrupter) and puppy was supposed to turn to look at him, at which point he would *click* the clicker and THEN drop a treat on the floor for puppy to find and eat while human Dad moved to another place behind puppy to do the exercise again (and again, and again, and again). I noticed that, for a couple of repetitions, human Dad dropped the treat on the floor either *during* or *after* clicking, and puppy stopped offering eye contact when she heard the kissy noise, looking at the floor by his feet instead. This is because exactly what was being rewarded was not clear to her. When you use a clicker to mark the eye contact *before* feeding, you are teaching puppy exactly what she is being rewarded for. The click (or yes!, thumbs up, etc) means Thats it! Your treat is coming!. The positive interrupter means look at me. When you make the noise and drop the treat on the floor, without a marker, during the marker (overshadowing), before you use the marker (then it is not marking anything) or with a vague good girl, you are only teaching puppy that the positive interrupter (kissy noise) predicts a treat being dropped on the floor... not quite as useful as encouraging instant eye contact or sustained and freely-offered attention and focus :)
Posted on: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 15:57:37 +0000